Nika
by Mrs. 11th
Summary: Follow Nika Montrose through her Hunger Games. One-Shot kinda inspired by the Hunger Games/ Doctor Who crossover "Pretty Far Away From a Fairy Tale," which I forever recommend.


_So, this really came out of nowhere. Well, the idea came to me while reading a fantastic Doctor Who/ Hunger Games AU crossover by _But You Can Call Me Willow _which I recommend to all Whovians who happen to love the Games. And if this doesn't make sense, I apologize._

_Things You Need To Know: This takes place in an unspecified Hunger Games, but it's obviously before the Rebellion. And this won't really be much into fighting or anything, it's mainly following little tidbits of a girl's experience in the Hunger Games._

_And, yes, a few bits were inspired by The Hunger Games book._

* * *

"Nika Montrose!" the Capital freak calls, a slight smile on her face as she looks for the face to the name. She finds the face, when everyone moves away from Nika, a lean, brunette girl, slightly short for her age of fifteen.

Nika walks to the stage, practically vibrating with nervousness.

* * *

"So," her District partner, eighteen-year-old Emory Kibner, drawls awkwardly in the ride to the train. "You good at anything? Got any special talents?" He runs his hand through his brown hair.

"I can shoot an arrow quite well," Nika picks at the skin on her thumb and doesn't meet Emory's eyes. "And I can run. I can climb, too."

Emory puts his hand over Nika's. She looks up at him, startled and confused.

"You'll want to stop doing that," he says, staring at her intensely. "First, it shows weakness and nervousness. Second, that's going to get infected in the arena."

Nika nods once and the car doors open.

* * *

When their chariot is visible to all in the large room, Emory wraps his arm around Nika's shoulders and pulls her to him, as if to show that they know and like each other. The crowd goes wild.

* * *

In the first training session, a pretty blonde girl, she looks about Emory's age, sits herself right next to Nika and begins to tie a piece of rope in a knot, then undo it, over and over again. She doesn't acknowledge Nika for about ten minutes, before she looks up, her curls falling in a curtain around her face, and smiles slightly. Nika smiles back, for some reason.

Trust?

* * *

"Here's what we'll do: when the Games begin, you run away from the bloodbath. _Run away. _I'll grab a bag, then I'll come find you. Okay?"

Nika nods once.

"Repeat what I just said."

"When the timer ends, run away. You'll get a bag and find me."

"Good, Nika... Good."

* * *

And when the minute ends, Nika freezes. Nearly everyone runs for the Cornucopia, others run away.

_Run away from the bloodbath, _Emory's voice echoes in her head.

So Nika turns and runs like hell.

* * *

Emory does find her, maybe an hour and a half later. She's up a tree and he smiles, before waving her down. He has two packs and gives one to her. She slips it on and they set off.

* * *

It's when they go separate ways in search of food that night when the trouble officially starts.

An abnormally huge boy, platinum hair and fair skin and icey eyes, hits her in the back of the head with something hard and heavy. She falls to the ground and he digs his knee into her ribcage.

"Who's gonna help you know, huh?" the boy sneers. "That guard dog of yours?" He digs his knee in harder and raises his knife.

Then, his knife drops out of his hand and his slumps over Nika. She gasps and he rolls off.

Nika sees a curly head of blonde hair over her, before everything goes black.

* * *

It's the fourth day when she wakes up. The pretty blonde from the first training session and Emory are each eating a roasted squirrel, and there's one set aside for her. She sits up.

"Nice of you to join us, Nika," Emory smiles at her.

The pretty blonde smiles, too.

"This is Petra," Emory jabs his thumb in the pretty blonde's direction. "She saved you."

"Thanks," Nika replies, before introducing herself.

"I'd say nice to meet you," Petra smiles wryly. "If it were under better circumstances."

* * *

It's very very cold that night. The Gamemakers must be hoping that some will freeze to death. Petra and Emory decide that, since she is the smallest, Nika needs to be the middle in their sleep sandwich.

That's when they know that each trusts the other wholeheartedly.

It really reminds Nika of home, with her older sister on one side and her older brother on the other, sleeping in the same bed, not because they're cold, but because they all hate to sleep alone.

* * *

Petra's gone when they wake, but they both are certain that she would never leave them.

She's back about ten minutes later, or so because there's no clocks in the arena, with two dead rabbits, a bag of red apples, a silver bow, and a quiver filled with about fifteen arrows.

"You know," she smirks, "for Careers, they're all brawn and no brains."

Petra hands the bow and quiver to Nika.

* * *

They collect a twelve-year-old boy named Ward by the end of the day. He's rather tiny, but throws an ax like he was born to and knows what's poisonous and what just tastes awful.

* * *

Ward is killed less than twenty-four hours later.

* * *

They're moving again the next morning.

They manage to avoid the Career pack all day, but the Gamemakers seem to think it's funny to make trees fall and fires start and and make it rain and thunder.

Petra's cursing under her breath for most of the day. She doesn't like loud noises much.

* * *

They pack and hide when the Careers get close. They're all just _too tired _to fight and don't want to die just yet either.

"She just _left?" _they hear one Career ask the other two.

"I woke up and she was gone. She left," the second replies.

"Whatever, she'll be dead in a few hours anyway. The wimp was practically helpless. How she survived the Academy, I'll _never know,"_ the third laughs this high-pitched, girly laugh.

_Career left the pack? _Emory mouths.

_One down, _Petra mouths. _Three to go._

Nika can't help but think it's more than that.

* * *

She finds the Detached Career when she's off hunting on her own.

The Career's sitting against a tree, her legs crossed, very slowly sharpening her knife. She has long, straight, blonde hair and fair, creamy skin. She looks quite tall and muscled, but her face shows she must only be about Nika's age.

Nika doesn't want to kill her, she doesn't want to kill anything but animals, so she starts to back away.

"I know you're there," the Career says quietly.

Nika freezes.

"My name's Jewel. What's yours?"

_She's insane, _Nika thinks. _She's gone insane here._

"Come on," Jewel whines, her eyes never leaving her knife. "What's your name?"

"Nika," it's a whisper, but Jewel hears.

"Hello, Nika."

Nika takes a small step forward, unsure of why she doesn't feel very frightened of this Career. She's always been told that she trusts too easily.

"Why did you leave the Career pack?" Nika asks.

Jewel is silent. "I felt that I didn't fit in there," she puts her knife down and finally looks up. Nika takes another step forward and is met by large, sky blue eyes, not filled with a thirst for blood, like most Careers, but filled with something unrecognizable.

"You could come back and join us," pops out of Nika's mouth. "We could use someone like you."

"Because I know how the Careers tick and I'm a Career?" Jewel guesses as she stands up.

"Basically."

"Done."

* * *

Petra and Emory jump up, ready to fight, when Nika comes back with Jewel in tow.

"She's alright," Nika says quickly. "She's with us. She's the one that left the Careers."

Petra and Emory relax slightly, though still on edge and looking at Nika like she's crazy.

"And she says she'll tell us everything about the Career pack."

Petra and Emory like that, but still don't trust Jewel.

* * *

"You volunteered, right?" Nika asks Jewel while Petra and Emory sleep.

Jewel looks at her strangely.

"I mean, most Careers volunteer, but you didn't look happy to be volunteering. Like you wanted to come, but didn't, at the same time."

"Can I tell you a secret?" Jewel asks.

Nika nods and Jewel leans over and whispers into her ear, barely audible, "I've wanted to die for a long time."

When she leans away, Nika stares at her, eyes wide with pity and sympathy.

* * *

Petra, they learn, is a good runner, but not for long. She can sprint for about three minutes or so, then she starts slowing down. This is fatal in the Games.

With Jewel's information, they've blown up every ounce of supplies that the Career's had, food and weapons.

And now they run, dodging anything and everything at lightning speed, because those Careers are quickly gaining.

Emory and Jewel are at the front, with Nika about fifteen feet behind, and Petra trying to keep up.

Petra falls even further behind, but everyone's only thinking _I have to lose the Careers. I have to get out of here._

Then they hear her piercing, blood-curdling scream. And everyone stops dead in their tracks and runs toward her.

Nika takes out an arrow and prepares to shoot.

She kills the one that stabbed Petra. The others are already gone, leaving no trace.

"N-Nika," she gasps, blood filling her mouth.

"Shh, shh," Nika kneels down next to her and strokes her hair. Emory lifts her head onto his lap and Jewel sits about two feet away, staring.

"If one o' you wins," Petra's eyes droop. "Tell my family that I love 'em."

They all nod.

Petra's eyes close, her breathing slows, then stops.

Nika sniffs and the forest is silent.

* * *

The next day, the Gamemakers decide it's not violent enough, so the forest is set on fire again. But, this time, the flames are hotter and stronger.

Nika, Emory, and Jewel swerve between the flames and flaming things, though it seems as if the whole arena is on fire. Even the sky is blood red and orange, like the flames, with the gray smoke bearing down on them.

They're all coughing and wheezing as they run. Nika trips over a rock (_a stupid stupid thing to do, _she thinks) and falls flat. The flames are fast approaching.

Emory hauls Nika over his shoulder and keeps running.

* * *

The next day, the remaining tributes are Emory, Nika, Jewel, and two Careers, both eighteen-year-old males.

And they all meet up by a lake, accidentally, of course. Though nothing is an accident in the Games, the Gamemakers must have made this happen.

The fight begins.

Arrows are aimed, knives and spears are thrown, as well as punches and kicks.

Emory throws one good punch and kills one of the Careers. The other one goes nuts.

Kicking and punching and stabbing with his knife and putting on all these fighting moves that neither Emory nor Nika has ever seen before. Only Jewel is prepared, fighting him off with her Career Academy training.

Emory joins the fight, but pushed Nika back, harshly whispering _run!_

But Emory and Jewel are just barely a match for the one Career.

Until he stabs Jewel in the heart. She collapses in a heap and blood stains the ground and Nika starts to see red, and not because of the blood. Emory begins punching and kicking wildly, while Nika gets her arrow and takes aim. But the Career sees her and gets Emory in the classic hostage taking position. Nika doesn't lower her bow and arrow.

"You shoot me, you shoot him," the Career taunts.

Nika doesn't move, but tries to analyze the situation.

"Come on," the Career drawls. "Just shoot one of us already." His grip tightens around Emory's neck and Emory's face starts turning red. "Or both of us... Or I could just snap his neck," Emory's face turns redder as the Career slowly tightens his hold on Emory's neck, cutting of his air supply.

"Two of us will die anyway," the Career's face is emotionless. "We're all just prolonging the inevitable." And with, that he snapped Emory's neck.

_"NO!" _Nika screeched and let the arrow go, sending it soaring into the Career's chest. He fell backwards, blood seeping from the wound, and still living.

Nika ran to Emory, who's head was unnaturally titled to the back and side.

"Emory," she sobbed. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"I wasn't supposed to get this, _you _were supposed to live, I'm sorry! I'm sorry."

Nika blocks out the trumpets and Claudius Templesmith announcing her as the winner. The hovercraft appears and a rope ladder drops down. Nika is reluctant to leave Emory, but she kisses his forehead, whispers another _I'm sorry_, and places her foot on the first rung of the ladder. An electric current freezes her in place and she's glad, because she doesn't want to have to hold on.

* * *

"So, Nika," Caesar Flickerman says cheerfully, after the video condensing the Games ends. "You had a total of four allies during the Games, from a very wide range of Districts. Jewel, from District One, Petra, from District Three, Ward, from District Seven, although briefly, and your District Partner, Emory. I don't think we've ever had such a wide range of allies before."

Nika shrugs. "I liked them. I guess I could call them My Games Friends."

"You all did seem close for allies," Caesar remarks.

"Emory helped me calm down a lot before the Games. I met Petra in the Training, again, before the Games, though I didn't know her name. She just sat beside me and smiled. I was intrigued by Jewel, I guess. And Ward was talented, for someone so young."

"Now, Jewel," Caesar seems slightly curious. "I was slightly confused by her. She left her allies and joined you, and she whispered something in your ear. May I ask what she whispered?"

Nika is silent, staring at the ground in front of her.

"She said that she had wanted to die for a long time," Nika said quietly, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes.

* * *

Nika is welcomed back to her District with many hugs and claps on the back.

Emory's family stands silently off to the side and Nika walks straight to them. He has a father who looks like an older version of him, a mother with his eyes, and twin little siblings, a boy and a girl, both about seven years old. The boy looks like a smaller version of him and the girl is the mirror image of her mother.

"I'm so sorry," Nika says, her voice cracking.

Emory's mother wraps her in a hug, his father pats her shoulder, and his little siblings each wrap their arms around her waist.

* * *

She moves into her Victor House and her sister Reah joins her. Her parents would prefer to stay in the house they've had for so many years and her brother Aron would prefer not to live with two girls, but he sleeps over most nights anyway.

Nika spends a lot of time with Emory's family. She learns that his father is Zax and his mother Flora and they married two months after Emory was born, when they were both seventeen. His little brother is Xander and his little sister is Maddox. Emory was teaching them both how to punch and dance. Nika really knows neither, so they start teaching her.

* * *

Nika sometimes finds herself staring out of her bedroom window in the middle of the night. The nightmares keep her up, so she sleeps maybe four or five hours. Six, if she's lucky. Seven, if she takes a pill that seems to always be in her bathroom cabinet.

And she sometimes finds herself thinking the same thing.

_Why did I live when others died?_

* * *

_That really got out of hand. Okay, it _so _wasn't supposed to be that long. And Nika was supposed to die actually, then I wrote myself into a corner where I couldn't not kill her and I didn't want to rewrite everything. Anyway, I like where it went, sorta. And I'd love a review if you did, too. But, and I'll be frank, if you didn't like it, don't tell me about it or complain, just don't leave a review._

_Thanks for reading!_

* * *

**This is for all _House _fans out there: I need your help, please.**

**I read a fanfiction a few months ago, and now I can't find it. I forgot to put it in my favorites because I was reading it on my iPod Touch and it's too much work to favorite things on there. It was long-ish; I think it was between twenty and forty chapters, but I'm not sure. The couples in it were Cameron/ Chase(briefly, I think), Cameron/ House, Thirteen/ Chase, Thirteen/ Cameron, and House/ Cuddy. I think the main couple was Cameron/ Thirteen. I can't remember what the rating was, but it was either "T" or "M". Here are the bits in it that I remember:**

**- Cameron and House stayed living together after they broke up, because, in their own way, they still needed each other to be there**

**- Cameron and Thirteen started up an affair while Thirteen was engaged to Chase**

**- When Chase found out about the Camteen affair, he slapped Cameron**

**- When Thirteen and House found out that Chase slapped Cameron, they got super mad**

**- Cameron and Thirteen had to do the walk of shame one morning with House and Cuddy in the kitchen**

**And that's about all I remember, and I'm sorry that I can't give you more. If anyone knows what this story is, please send me the title, or the author, or the link, because I know that I adored this story.**

**Thanks so much.**

**I promise, I'm going now!**


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